Why Regulate Recreational Fisheries?

Why Regulate Recreational Fisheries?

Photo: Charles Witek in a different era of fishing technology When I was young, marine recreational fisheries, at least in the northeast, were virtually unregulated. There was a 16-inch (fork length) minimum size for striped bass that was in place throughout the region, but other than that, anglers could take as many fish as they […]

Resilience Through Representation

Resilience Through Representation

Commercial fishing and charter/for-hire fishing communities exist throughout our nation’s coastlines from the Aleutian Islands (AK) to San Diego (CA) and from Brownsville (TX) to Key West (FL) to Eastport (ME). Commercial and charter/for-hire fishermen like us live in and sail from these ports as we spend our lives on the water delivering sustainable, wild, […]

Rep. Peltola Steps Up for Bristol Bay

Rep. Peltola Steps Up for Bristol Bay

On May 1, 2024 Rep. Mary Peltola (D-AK) introduced a bill, titled the “Bristol Bay Protection Act,” in the House of Representatives. Such legislation, if passed and signed into law, would finally end the long-running conflict that has pitted proponents of the so-called “Pebble Mine” against Alaska Native peoples and others who have long harvested, […]

What Does Recreational Fishing Really Mean?

What Does Recreational Fishing Really Mean?

Is “Limiting Out” Becoming Passé? Top photo: Releasing a bluefin tuna I’m not gonna lie, man. I kinda dislike the term “limiting out”… Actually, I hate it. Mostly because it implies a certain, perhaps outdated, way of thinking – that your fishing trip wasn’t really successful unless you killed the maximum allowed under the current […]

Safeguarding Forage: New Action Underway in New England to Protect Critical Forage Fish Species

Safeguarding Forage: New Action Underway in New England to Protect Critical Forage Fish Species

This article is reprinted with permission from the latest edition of the Wild Oceans Horizon newsletter. For the past year, Wild Oceans and a core group of partners built a coalition of more than thirty recreational fishing, watershed, and environmental organizations to bring about a new action to develop near-shore protections for Atlantic herring, river […]

ASMFC Management Authority Challenged by Maryland Lawsuit

ASMFC Management Authority Challenged by Maryland Lawsuit

After the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s (ASMFC’s) Atlantic Striped Bass Management Board adopted Addendum II to Amendment 7 to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Atlantic Striped Bass (Addendum II) in January 2024, it was generally assumed that striped bass management issues would be put on a back burner until a new stock assessment […]